What UP Partners does

UP Partners (branded UP.Partners) is an early-stage venture capital firm that backs founders building physical-world technology — companies that move people and goods across land, air, sea, and space. The firm operates as a multi-vehicle platform comprising UP.Ventures (seed and early-stage investing), UP.Labs (a venture studio that co-builds new companies with named corporate partners such as Wabash, Alaska Airlines, and Porsche), UP.Abundance (a public-private partnership with the New Mexico State Investment Council that channels institutional pension capital into physical-world technology ventures), UP.Summit (an annual invitation-only gathering co-hosted with the Walton family, Ross Perot Jr., and Phillip Sarofim that convenes 400+ attendees representing over $1 trillion in investable capital), and The Kinetic Age (an annual thought-leadership research publication, renamed from The Moving World Report in 2026). The portfolio spans roughly 50+ companies across aerospace, robotics, autonomous systems, defense, energy, advanced manufacturing, logistics, mobility, and supply chain, including Skydio, Beta Technologies, Hermeus, Pacific Fusion, HavocAI, Metropolis, BeyondMath, and Loft Dynamics.

The firm generates revenue through the traditional VC model of management fees on committed or invested capital plus carried interest on successful exits, with the UP.Labs venture studio adding equity-return upside from spun-out ventures (e.g., Odysee, AutoUnify, PartsPulse). UP Partners is led by Chairman and Managing Partner Adam Grosser (former head of Silver Lake Kraftwerk) alongside co-founders Ben Marcus, David Ellmann, and Cyrus Sigari, supported by ~24 team members including Operating Partners, Venture Partners, and platform staff. The firm is headquartered at Santa Monica Airport in California and in May 2026 entered a strategic (non-controlling) relationship with TWG Global, led by Mark Walter and Thomas Tull, to accelerate investment across physical AI, mobility, advanced manufacturing, and logistics.

Name

UP Partners

Legal name

UP Partners Management Company, LLC

Website

https://up.partners

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UP Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm that backs founders building physical-world technology across aerospace, robotics, energy, defense, transportation, and advanced manufacturing, operating a multi-vehicle platform of fund investing, a venture studio, public-private partnerships, and an annual summit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

Keywords

• Early-stage venture capital
• Physical-world technology investing
• Mobility and transportation funding
• Venture studio partnerships
• Aerospace and robotics investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Monica

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Management Fees & Carried Interest: UP Partners operates a traditional VC fund model: limited partners commit capital to the fund, the firm charges management fees on committed/invested capital, and earns carried interest on the profits of successful investments in its portfolio of physical-world technology companies.
2. UP.Labs Venture Studio Equity Returns: UP.Labs co-founds companies alongside enterprise partners (Wabash, Alaska Airlines, Porsche, etc.); the firm earns equity stakes in the spun-out ventures, generating returns when those companies raise follow-on capital, are acquired, or exit via IPO.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

UP Partners is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in seed and Series A physical-world technology companies spanning mobility, transportation, logistics, robotics, energy, aerospace, and defense. The firm pairs traditional fund investing (UP.Ventures) with a venture studio (UP.Labs) that co-builds new companies alongside large corporate partners such as Wabash, Alaska Airlines, and Porsche, and runs a public-private partnership program (UP.Abundance) channeling institutional pension capital into physical-world technology ventures.

Product overview

UP Partners operates as a multi-vehicle venture capital platform rather than a single unified product. The core firm, UP.Partners, sits at the center and is surrounded by several named sub-brands and programs: UP.Ventures (seed/early-stage fund), UP.Labs (venture studio), UP.Abundance (a public-private partnership with the New Mexico State Investment Council), UP.Summit (annual invitation-only gathering), and The Kinetic Age (annual research report). Together these offerings form a single investment-and-thought-leadership platform aimed at founders building physical-world technologies, with the various sub-brands serving as distinct entry points for capital, company creation, institutional deployment, community, and research respectively.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UP.Labs: Venture studio that builds new companies in partnership with large corporations (e.g., Alaska Airlines, Wabash, Porsche); produces startups such as Odysee, AutoUnify, and PartsPulse.
• UP.Ventures
• UP.Abundance
• UP.Summit
• The Kinetic Age (formerly The Moving World Report)

Products and services

• UP.Ventures UP Partners' seed and early-stage venture fund, focused on backing founders building physical-world and frontier-technology companies across transportation, logistics, mobility, energy, aerospace, robotics, and defense. Targeted at founders and entrepreneurs building breakthrough physical-world technologies who need early-stage capital and platform support.
• UP.Labs Venture studio that co-builds new companies from scratch in partnership with large enterprises (Wabash, Alaska Airlines, Porsche). Each venture is built with a domain-expert founding team and a corporate partner providing data, distribution, and domain expertise; resulting companies are spun out as independent entities. Targeted at Fortune 500-style enterprises seeking venture-speed innovation.
• UP.Abundance Public-private partnership program operated with the New Mexico State Investment Council, deploying institutional public pension capital into physical-world technology ventures anchored in New Mexico. Targeted at state and public pension investors seeking physical-world technology exposure tied to economic-development mandates.
• UP.Summit Annual invitation-only gathering bringing together founders, operators, investors, and policymakers focused on physical-world technology, held at Kennedy Space Center and co-hosted with the Walton family, Ross Perot Jr., and Phillip Sarofim since 2017. Targets the physical-world technology ecosystem at large and draws 400+ attendees representing more than $1 trillion in investable capital.
• The Kinetic Age (Annual Research Report) Annual research report and thought-leadership platform from UP Partners analyzing macro and micro trends, physical intelligence, and emerging technologies across mobility, robotics, autonomous systems, defense, and energy (renamed from 'The Moving World Report' in 2026). Targets founders, corporate partners, LPs, and policymakers in the physical-world technology ecosystem.

Quantifiable outcome

• UP.Summit convenes 400+ attendees annually representing $1T+ in investable capital.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• TWG GlobalflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2026Strategic relationship announced in May 2026 with TWG Global to accelerate investment in physical-world technology companies. TWG Global is led by Mark Walter (also Chairman and Controlling Owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers) and longtime investor Thomas Tull. The partnership combines UP Partners' physical-world technology investment platform with TWG Global's capital and operating expertise.
• New Mexico State Investment CouncilflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerUP Partners partnered with the New Mexico State Investment Council (NMSIC) to launch the UP.Abundance program, a public-private partnership that deploys institutional public pension capital into physical-world technology ventures anchored in New Mexico. The partnership has already catalyzed a $1 billion investment by Pacific Fusion into the state.
• WabashcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWabash is a corporate partner with UP.Labs in the Manufacturing Venture Lab, through which UP Partners co-builds new companies for the manufacturing, logistics, and parts-intelligence sectors. PartsPulse is one venture that emerged from this partnership.
• Alaska AirlinescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUP.Labs partnered with Alaska Airlines to launch Odysee, a venture focused on autonomous aviation and logistics. The partnership brings together UP Partners' venture-building capabilities with Alaska Airlines' operational domain expertise in commercial aviation.
• PorschecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUP.Labs partnered with Porsche to launch AutoUnify, a venture in the automotive and mobility software space. The partnership combines UP Partners' venture-building expertise with Porsche's automotive industry position.
• Tom Walton, Steuart Walton, Ross Perot Jr., and Phillip SarofimflagshipGTM or Marketing PartnerThe Walton brothers (Tom and Steuart), Ross Perot Jr., and Phillip Sarofim are co-hosts of UP.Summit, the firm's flagship annual convening event at Kennedy Space Center. They provide convening power, family-office and strategic capital connections, and ecosystem reach for the physical-world technology category.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Eclipse Ventures: Early-stage venture firm focused on the intersection of physical industries (manufacturing, logistics, transportation, construction) and software/AI — directly comparable to UP Partners' physical-world thesis and similar GTM of backing founders modernizing "atoms" businesses.
• Founders Fund: Premier deep-tech venture firm with active exposure to aerospace, autonomous systems, defense, and frontier technology — competes with UP Partners for the same physical-world founders and overlapping co-investors (e.g., 8VC, Lux, a16z).
• Lux Capital: Frontier-technology venture firm investing in physical-world categories including aerospace, robotics, energy, and autonomous systems with a science-and-engineering-driven thesis — the closest comparable to UP Partners' "Kinetic Age" thesis, with a similar mix of seed/early-stage and high-conviction deep-tech bets.
• BMW i Ventures: Corporate venture arm of BMW investing in autonomous driving, e-mobility, and manufacturing-tech — comparable to UP Partners in transportation focus and corporate-partnership-driven venture creation (analogous to the Porsche UP.Labs module).
• Battery Ventures: Long-tenured venture firm with active frontier-technology and industrial-tech practice, frequently co-investing with UP Partners (e.g., Coram AI, Loft Dynamics) and competing for similar physical-AI and mobility deals.
• DCVC (Data Collective): Deep-tech VC investing in computational, aerospace, energy, and life-sciences applications of frontier science — closely aligned with UP Partners' physical-AI and engineering-driven thesis, often co-investing in the same rounds.
• Toyota Ventures: Corporate venture arm investing in autonomy, robotics, mobility, and climate — directly comparable to UP Partners' corporate-partner-driven GTM (similar to UP.Labs) with deep transportation operating expertise.

Broad incumbents

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Mega-VC with dedicated American Dynamism thesis covering aerospace, defense, manufacturing, and public-sector technology — overlapping significantly with UP Partners' portfolio categories and increasingly competitive on the same deals.
• Khosla Ventures: Large venture firm with deep exposure to frontier technology, mobility, energy, climate, and robotics — a broader incumbent that competes for the same physical-world founders and can write larger checks than UP Partners.

Emerging players

• Obvious Ventures: Mission-driven venture firm investing in world-positive companies across mobility, energy, food, and health — partial overlap with UP Partners' physical-world / clean-mobility thesis at the seed/early stage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/embed/FAHUK0AbG8o
• Xx.com/UPPartnersVC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uppartners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments50 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UP Partners